Global displacement: Consequence of conflict?

The UN refugee agency says record numbers of people have been forced from their homes.

More than 50 million people were forcibly uprooted around the world at the end of last year, as a result of conflict or persecution.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says it was the first time the number of people displaced had exceeded that figure.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, the world is witnessing "...the immense costs of not ending wars, of failing to resolve or prevent conflict."

The UNHCR Global Trends report showed that a total of 51.2 million people had been forced from their homes at the end of 2013 - 6 million up on the previous year.

The figure included 16.7 million refugees, 33.3 million people displaced within their own country, and 1.2 million asylum seekers whose applications were pending.

Much of the increase has been driven by the war in Syria. The UN says the number of Syrian refugees has reached two and a half million, with six and a half million more internally displaced. That's 40 percent of Syria's population.

But what is driving the surge? Is it an inevitable consequence of modern conflict? Or are there deeper reasons behind the dramatic increases?